Welcome to Mwanza

Welcome to Mwanza, Tanzania.  This little city is right on the shores of Lake Victoria -- the second largest fresh-water lake in the world.  Mwanza is made up of beautiful farm country and huge boulders...a heaven for people who enjoy bouldering.  The houses are built among the rocks.  The main industries are fishing, tourism and farming.  They grow rice, bananas, mangos, coconuts, papayas, corn, etc.

This is the hotel where we stayed for two days and two nights.  We traveled with the Broadbents and the A.P.s.   On Friday,  we met with the missionaries for zone leaders conference and then had dinner together here at the hotel.  On Saturday we met with the branch leaders for training and then went sightseeing.  On Sunday we had branch conference.  The branch was started one year ago and now there are about 50 members.  The branch president was the only member in Mwanza for 28 years.  He joined the Church in England as a young man as he was going to college there.  He has three children preparing to go on mission.

This is the scenery from the other side of the hotel.  We think they were growing mostly rice in this garden.

The air was clear -- unlike Nairobi --  and the atmosphere was very peaceful and quiet. 

Here are some of the missionaries and President Broadbent in front of the church house.

This young man is the gardener.  He is using this little part of the church yard to plant some vegetables called sgweeky.  It's kine of like spinach except it is chewy.  He takes great pride in his work.

At Bomas of Kenya they have built replicas of different tribal homes.  This is the 1st wife's hut.  It is always the biggest and nicest of any of the wive's huts.

This is inside the 1st wife's house.  Behind the grass wall is the bedroom and the bed is built up on stilts.  It would be interesting to see the houses would be furnished.

This is the guest house/kitchen.  It's small but it works.

Here is Grandpa by the boys' hut.

I'm not sure what room this was but there was an empty pop bottle in is so it must be the dining room.

These are the husbands standing in front of the husband's house.  This is a different village with a little different style of house. 

It is incredible the way these huts are built using sticks, grasses and mud.  The mud is mixed with cow dung and spread over the sticks.  They are nice and cool inside.

This is another village...the houses are a little different.

These two men were there to represent the Masai tribe.  They agreed to have their picture taken with them for a few shillings.  That is a Masai necklace I am wearing...smart, eh?

Elder & Sister Hall are negotiating with the Masai.  The young men in the background were from a school.

These houses look like igloos, don't you think?

This is a close-up view of the inside of the house.   Amazing.

These women were mixing the dung and mud to spread on the huts.  Building the houses, taking care of the gardens and the children are the reseonsibilities of the women,  The men provide the property and protect the family.

These women are spreading the mud over the outside of the house so that it is nice and smooth.  The mixture makes for good insulation.

Livestock is very very important to the people in the villages.  You see herders everywhere taking care of their animals.  Even along the highways you will see animals grazing.  More than once we have had to slow down for a cow who is walking across the highway.   Many tribes still require a dowry of animals.